The Court of Appeal in Abuja on Wednesday adjourned till May 18, the appeal seeking to nullify President Muhammadu Buhari’s election in 2019 and swear in Abubakar Atiku of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) as President.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Buhsri are 1st to the 3rd defendants.
The three-member panel presided over by Justice Haruna Tsamani adjourned the appeal to enable the respondents to reconcile issue of representation.
The Incorporated Trustees of the Civil Society Observatory for Constitutional and Legal Compliance (CSOCLC) filed the appeal, urging the appellate court to remove Buhari and enthrone Atiku as the president of Nigeria on the grounds that the affidavit made by President Buhari in the 2019 general elections was false.
The CSO, through its counsel, Nnamdi Ahaiwe held that the affidavit made by President Buhari on November 24, 2014, at the FCT High Court “that all his academic qualification documents as filled in his Presidential Form, President APC/001/2015 are currently with the Secretary, Military Board as at the time of the affidavit is false.”
The CSO is also contending that “there was no any organ, institution, agency, department or authority known as and called the ‘Military Board’ existing in the Federal Republic of Nigeria as at the 24th day of November 2014, when the 3rd defendant, President Muhammadu Buhari, deposed to an affidavit sworn to at the High Court of the Federal Capital Territory Abuja.”
It added that in the event its reliefs succeeds, the appellate court should grant a consequential order nullifying Buhari’s election, withdraw the certificate of return to office of the President and direct “the 1st defendant/respondent (INEC) to issue a new certificate of return in respect of the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), being the candidate who came second in the 2019 general elections to the office of President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.”
However, in their reply, APC and Buhari submitted that the inability of the CSO to prove its allegation beyond reasonable doubt at the high court, being criminal, with a subpoena of the Secretary of the Military Board to produce the certificates, was fatal to their case.
They stated that the Supreme Court had resolved the subject matter of the appeal in Abubakar Atiku vs INEC and others, maintaining that under the doctrine of stare decisis, the appellate court must stand by the earlier decision of the apex court.
Meanwhile, presiding was stalled at the resumed hearing on Wednesday, when two lawyers — Oluwole Afolabi and F. O. Amedu — appeared for both the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Buhari. Each argued he is the genuine representative of the APC and Buhari, which caused the judge to adjourned the matter for them to resolve the issue of representation.
Stay ahead with the latest updates! Join The ConclaveNG on WhatsApp and Telegram for real-time news alerts, breaking stories, and exclusive content delivered straight to your phone. Don’t miss a headline — subscribe now!
